Pro-Arab Website Publishes Details About IAF Pilots

A pro-PA website has published confidential details about 100 IAF pilots, including pictures and names.

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Elad Benari, 10/08/12 05:13

IAF Pilots Graduate

IDF photo

A pro-Palestinian Authority website published on Thursday confidential details about 100 Israeli Air Force pilots. The website posted the pictures, names and other identifying information regarding the pilots, whose identity is supposed to remain confidential.

The confidential information that was posted included dates of birth and identity numbers. The names published included those of base commanders whose identities are not confidential.

The IDF Spokesman said in response that the organization behind the website is known to the IDF and that the publication was riddled with errors.

“This publication is another attempt by anti-Israel causes to harm Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself,” said an official statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

The statement added that the IDF and the relevant departments in the Israeli government regularly monitor attempts to take legal action against those who act on behalf of the State of Israel in its fight against terrorism and are taking appropriate steps.

“The IDF will continue to act in accordance with the laws of war of international law,” said the statement, which added that the officers will be briefed on how to maintain their personal security.

In 2010, an anti-Israel website published personal information on hundreds of IDF officers and soldiers who took part in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in early 2009, calling them ‘war criminals’.

The website called on internet users to distribute the personal information on the soldiers throughout the web and said that the solders “held key positions as part of a murderous mechanism.”

The list included soldiers’ names, pictures, personal addresses, dates of birth, and their role in the IDF.

In response to such incidents, the IDF’s Operations Division has published a set of strict guidelines regarding the use by IDF officers and soldiers of social networks such as Facebook. Photos published by IDF soldiers on their Facebook profiles are sometimes used by hostile elements against the IDF and Israel.